The creation of a new Inventory to protect to Scotland’s historic battlefields was announced today by Culture Minister Michael Russell. Speaking at Killiecrankie in Perthshire on the 320th anniversary of the Battle of Killiecrankie, Michael Russell said: “The battles fought on Scottish soil still have huge resonance for many people. “The stories of those who fought and their reasons for fighting have shaped the country that we have become. The Inventory we are announcing today will mean that the important sites – now recognised as nationally important - will have to be a material consideration within the planning process should any development be proposed.

Minister applauds web celebration of Scotland's historic sites and great characters of the past

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Minister for Culture, External Affairs and the Constitution, MSP Michael Russell has applauded Historic Scotland’s launch of a web-based celebration of the country’s people and past as part of its contribution to the 2009 Year of Homecoming.

You thought it couldn’t happen! The Edinburgh Festivals’ Cavalcade in Holyrood Park Sunday 9 August 2009

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The Edinburgh Festivals’ Cavalcade will take place in Holyrood Park this year for the first time ever thanks to Historic Scotland. The need to move the location of the spectacular event is largely due to the need to avoid the tram works on Princes Street. It will start at 2pm at the Holyrood Park Road entrance (by the Commonwealth Pool) and travel north and east along The Queen’s Drive past Dynamic Earth, the Scottish Parliament and Palace of Holyrood House and finish at the Meadowbank Terrace entrance (by Meadowbank Stadium) at about 3pm.

Ledger and photos recall life at Stanley Mills from Victorian times to the 1920s

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A Victorian accounts book offering fascinating insights on the history of the Stanley Mills cotton weaving complex has been gifted to Historic Scotland. The neatly hand-written ledger details the income and expenditure of the business and estate that Colonel Frank Stewart Sandeman purchased it in 1876. It shows that in 1876-80 the weekly wage bill for the substantial workforce at the water-powered mills on the banks of the Tay outside Perth was between Â£107 and Â£172.

Aspiring archaeologists from across the globe have visited Mull to learn about underwater heritage.
Historic Scotland has sponsored the underwater archaeology fieldschool in the Sound of Mull to encourage public interest in the recording of Scotland’s underwater heritage.